Grease behind sprocket cover?

Riddle me this.

I noticed the chain on my new 990 was very black, and the guy I bought it off told me he had just lubed it for me. Oh, no one of these old oil chain lubers, thinks I.

I prefer the ceramic lube so I gave it a quick clean, lubed it and shortly it was black again. So off comes sprocket cover and it is packed with dirty black grease.

Not just crud and chain wax but it looked like pukka grease and plenty of it.

I assume its not coming out of anywhere as it is thick, not thin like oil.

It really does look like he packed the sprocket with grease

Do some folks do that? His other bike is a rotary Norton if that helps with the mindset.

Or is is something 'more sinister' ?

Its proving a bugger to clean given I can't currently be arsed to take chain and sprocket off, but if an inspection is required I will.

Pretty sure that would be chain fling. The front sprocket has the smallest radius therefore the centripetal/centrifugle force would be at its highest. Where else do you think all that carp that you put on your chain goes? It just builds up behind that there sprocket cover I 'spose?

Yeah but this is chain fling like no other.

I guess he must have been a compulsive over oiler.

I tend to under oil on the trailie, and probably on my last chain drive road bike as well.


I feel the need to point out my last bike didnt have a chain.

[Spiderman]

My old SV, the first timei took the sprocket cover off had only enogh room for the sprocket and the chain to move, the rest was gunk.

I'd imagine your guy uses or used white chain lube hence it looks like grease from the buildup of it?

i scraped most of mine out of there with old lolly sticks. OK they werent old and i had to eat more lollies to finish the job but i didnt keep taking em out the freezer cos it was a very hot day, only cos i needed them to clean with. Honest

Sounds like it then. Fippin 'ek, welcome me to your world

I am just amazed there is so much of it.

[Spiderman]

The bike was 4yrs old when i got it and had 2 previous owners and never had the chain and sproket changed so it was a 4yr build up of grit, lube, hair, feathers and all sorts of other road gunk. Belugh.

Just make sure you wipe the removed nastyness onto a newspaper or something to dispose of it and dont do what i did... have the newspaper not held down so when i had a nice pile of gunk a gust of wind came and blew the newspaper anway and threw the gunk all over the patio!
Its harder to remove from the patio i soon learnt.

Originally Posted by Spiderman

Its harder to remove from the patio i soon learnt.

And bloody impossible to remove form carpet if you manage to tread it in! Not that I would be so silly as to do that

If you can get it in your fingers rll it up into a big ball and throw it at some ones windows sticks great, I had soem on my exhaust that I dropped till I saw it today.

it is common with all motorcycles, whatever is on the chain flings off into that area.